Falling through Time

“ Hey honey!” I was greeted by my mother, I looked at the clock. 10 O' clock pm. I knew I wasn't asleep that long, but I guess time really does fly when you having fun, or in my case sleeping ... My mother handed me a sandwich and sent me up to bed, Josh traveling right behind me. I curled up next to him, my head clouded with confusion.

-=- Next Year -=-

The year had passed by a lot faster than I thought it would. I was in my room packing to go on a trip that I had had planned for the last 2 years. Once I was finished packing I made my way down stairs, where my mother,my bestie Sarah and Josh stood. After lots of hugs and kisses I made my way to the Taxi. Once I arrived at the airport I went through security and finally found my plane. Settling into the planes seat I drifted off.

I woke up to what seemed seconds later, to notice that 4 hours had passed. I sighed and gripped the seats arm rests in fear as the plane descended. I was directed off the plane, to my luggage, then out the door to a rusty old van.

2 hours later I made it to the planetarium. The stars out here shone like were just asking for me to reach up and take one home. In a daze I followed my instructor to a room, without noticing what was going on I was undressed and sent to bed.

*Man, these days are going by really fast. I'm not even noticing whats going on.* My thoughts were scattered as I fell asleep.

**:: BRRRRIIIINNNGGG::**

The alarm scarred me awake and I jumped out of bed, rushing to get ready. I made my way through the maze of hallways, having to skip breakfast, and finally arrived at my station. Since I was only visiting, they showed me everything to ensure that I would be coming back for a job. My station was to observe the black hole which was supposedly absorbing all of our time. I watched with fascination as the black hole pulsed and expanded, dragging a white river of something with it as is shrunk back up. I guessed that this white river of stuff was our time. I wrote down what I had notice and was quickly ushered off to another station, then another and another. Finally we got to the one that I was waiting for, the Journyer.

The Journyer was something new that NASA was working on, it was to shoot its user safely through the atmosphere and towards the black hole. It would supply oxygen for 4 days then immediately bring itself home. It had an hours worth of back up oxygen in case of emergency, but since it was made by NASA, they were sure that the emergency tank wouldn't be needed.

I was told the procedure and then told that since I was the first to sign up for the trip to the planetarium, I would be the one to test the Journyer. Fear collided with me and I sucked in a deep breath. The people around me tried to assure me that things would be fine, that I would be completely safe, but the though of being shot millions of miles into space stayed. Even though they showed me a slide of how things would work, even though they showed me the safety procedures, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong. They sent me off to bed to calm my nerves. That night I had nightmares about the darkness reaching out for me, pulling me into it. Sucking away everything. My dreams were not full of hope, they were now full of death and darkness. The stringy fingers of fear reached out and grabbed my body, slowly dragging it downward into the pits of hell. I fought it as best as I could, but I couldn't escape as I was finally swallowed whole, into the belly of the beast. The black hole and the possibilities of never escaping stayed with me all night, drenching me in a sweat of fear.

-=- Flight Day.... Or is it fright day? -=-

I was led from my room into the holding tank. This room was to cleanse me of any type of bacteria that could effect the flight. My nightmares still shook me as I walked. I entered the steely white cage. My instructor led me further into the prison as a loud speaker crackled.

“ Please remove all clothing and await for your cleansing Then proceed into the next room for your new clothing and instruction.” I complied with weak legs leading the way. Undressing, the door closed. I stood naked in the room, arms spread out as a clear mist was sprayed over me, my skin tingled as I was cleansed Once I was all clean I walked to the next room and donned on my new stark white clothing. There was light weight undershirt and pants. Then the thick space suit and helmet. I grabbed the helmet and slid it on, hearing a loud hissing as air was pumped into the helmet. My headset buzzed and a voice came through.

“ Prepare for boarding.” I boarded the Journyer, black spots invaded my vision as I strapped myself in. I didn't remember agreeing to do this, but when I said no, they said it would be ok and that I should do this Basically they said that I had no choice by to climb into this thing and shoot my self out into space. When I said that the Journyer was my favorite part, I meant that I thought I was going to see some other sad sole being shot up, not my own.

“10.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1. Blasting time!” I heard from over the speaker. The Journyer began to shake and I felt bile rise in my throat. I forced it back down and closed my eyes.

“ Goodbye everyone, I love you all so so much.” I whispered to myself, tears begging to be released.

The rumbling of the Journyer grew louder and I felt myself thrown back into the seat as I began to rise up into the air. The Journyer climbed higher into the sky as I bit back a scream. When we reached the layers of the atmosphere I was thrown around like a rag doll. It was a bumpy ride which ended up in my being thanking for seat belts or else I would have been chucked through the window.

“Journyer, have you made it through the atmosphere? I repeat;Journyer, have you made it through the atmosphere?” With shaky hands I turned on my microphone.

“ Huston, I have successfully made it through the atmosphere.” I heard cheers through the head set.

“ How are you feeling Journyer?”

“I'm doing fine. Just a little shaken.”

“ That is to be expected. Now, Journyer, what do you see?”

“ A hole latta nothin.” The man on the other end chuckled.

“ Alight. We will check in with you later. Keep us updated.”

“ Will do.” I said, I laid back into the chair. I felt a light pull on the Journyer and sat up quickly. I saw loose tendrils of darkness reach out to take me, just like in my dream. I heard one last thing through the headset:

“ We are very proud of you Hun. Good luck.” The sound of my Mothers voice was played through the head set as I was dragged into utter darkness. A single tear rolled down my cheek.

* I never really got to say goodbye.*

________________________________________________________________________________________

“ Last night we got terrible news from NASA. The space craft named Journyer was finally launched last night with 18 year old Ms. Lusie Yonsuer aboard it. The Journyer's last known position was at the base of the black hole. Nobody knows where the Journyer and Ms. Yonsuer have ended up, it is a sad day for all of us.” A picture showed up on the screen of a young girl. A mother wept on the couch with the arms of her daughters boyfriend and best friends arms wrapped around her, the sad news flashing on the screen and in all of their minds. Tears were shed that night, and once again, time was stolen from an innocent. Things have always been crazy, but nothing is wrong until the future takes over and does as it pleases. This is now known by the world as a once loved young woman is mourned by the world that is wasting away to nothing.